“Leo.”
She muttered something about overprotective brothers as he guided the SUV into a spot in front of her place and killed the engine.For a second, neither of them moved.The silence outside felt tight as a tripwire.
Chloe broke it first.“Thank you for ...whatever that was.NASCAR stunt driving?Jedi reflexes?I don’t know.”
He glanced at her.Couldn’t help it.“Just keepin’ you alive,cher.”
Her lips parted slightly.“You make it sound so easy.”
“Darlin’, if it were easy, you wouldn’t need me.”
Her laugh was small, breathy, and entirely too effective.
He unbuckled, stepped out, and got to her door before she could even move.She climbed out carefully and he suspected her legs weren’t entirely trustworthy yet.He hovered close enough to catch her, but far enough not to spook her.Chloe looked up at him as if he was the only steady thing in a collapsing world.
“Kayne?”she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“I’m really glad you were there.”
Oh, hell.That tone.He felt that in his bones.
Her breath puffed white in the cold, her eyes bright despite the ordeal.The urge to pull her in, shelter her, warm her, kiss her senseless, hit so fast he had to actually clench his fists.
“Me too,cher,” he murmured.More than she knew.
He walked her inside, a barrier between her and the world, already aware of one absolute truth: he wasn’t leaving her apartment that night.
Not a damn chance.
#
Kayne’s enormous bodywas a comforting buffer against all evil as he ushered her inside.Chloe’s hand still tingled from holding his big, strong one on the drive home.She knew she should’ve let go, but her body had decided to unionize and override management.She almost shuddered thinking about the feel of his warm, calloused palm, but willed herself not to.The man had instincts like a bloodhound with a PhD; he’d know what the tremor meant.Attraction.
Though unwelcome, it was a better emotion than the terror she’d experienced lately.And the helplessness.Kayne had kept throwing her those worried, sideways glances, his thumb drumming against the steering wheel, probably to keep himself from pulling her into his lap and bubble-wrapping her himself.
To distract herself from remembering that someone had tried to merge their sedan with the side of his SUV, she said, “I haven’t had a chance to go grocery shopping this week.I hope you enjoy Greek yogurt and frozen berries.”
“As tempting as that sounds,” he drawled, “how about we order a pizza?”
She didn’t usually indulge, but cheese and pepperoni and grease sounded like medicine right now.
Kayne scanned the parking lot with a focus that made her pulse trip over itself.
“Stay behind me, Chloe,” he ordered in a voice that had no business being that sexy when she was in fight-or-flight mode.
Chloe bristled.“I’m not helpless.”
“Never said you were.”He stepped in front of her anyway.“I’m still not letting you be the first through a door someone might be hiding behind.”
Well, when he put it likethat.
She followed him up the stairwell, fists balled at her sides, adrenaline fizzing through her veins as if she’d mainlined espresso.
Her hands were still trembling when Kayne eased her apartment door shut behind them.She willed away the jittery hive under her skin.She also disliked, just a little, the way Kayne watched her as he would a fragile vase one carelessly placed move from shattering.She was strong, damn it.
“I’m fine,” she announced to the room, which was technically true except for the parts of her that were still remembering headlights bearing down on her.Twice.
